Fountain attachment for faucets



Oct. 10, ,1950 J. P. BRUNETTI 2,524,955

' FOUNTAIN ATTACHMENT FOR FAUCETS Filed July 17, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet. 1

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Oct. 10, 1950 J. P. BRUNETTI 2,524,956

FoufiTAIN ATTACHMENT FOR FAUCETS- Filed July 17, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor JusEPH P. ETA: ETTI ttomeys Patented Oct. 10, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,524,956 FOUNTAIN ATTACHMENT FOR FAUCETS Joseph P. Brunetti, Clarksburg, W. ya. I Application July 17, 1946, Serial No. 684,213

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a fountain attachment for a faucet and has for its primary object to convert an ordinary water faucet into a drinking fountain.

Another object of the invention is to enable the faucet to be opened in order to deliver a stream of water in the ordinary manner and simultaneously to discontinue the flow of water through the drinking fountain. I

Among its features, my invention embodies a tubular body adapted to be attached to the discharge end of an ordinary water faucet, said body having a lateral extension having an upwardly and outwardly inclined water discharge passage, and means operable within the body in response to the pressure of water passing through the device for selectively opening the passage for the discharge of water therethrough or closing the passage and permitting the discharge of water directly through the tubular body.

Other features include a chamber in the lateral extension on the body with which the passage communicates and which opens'into the interior of the tubular body, a water deflector pivotally supported to swing about a horizontal axis adjacent the junction of the chamber and the interior of the body, and a weight attached to the deflector and operable in the chamber to open and close the passage in response to the pressure of water on the deflector.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side view of the faucet showing this improved fountain attachment in place thereon,

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the fountain attachment,

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 33 of Figure 2, showing the water deflector in closed position for delivery of water through the fountain passage,

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the deflector moved to open position in response to increased pressure of water, for the discharge of water straight through the tubular body,

Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view through a modified form of the device,

Figure 6 is a side view of the faucet showing a still further modified type of water deflector mounted thereon,

Figure 7 is a to plan view of the fountain attachment illustrated in Figure 6, and

Figure 8 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along the line '88 of Figure '7, showing the water deflector in fountain operating position.

Referring to the drawings in detail, a conventional water faucet I0 is equipped with the cus 16 in an upwardly and outwardly inclined water passage ll through which the water is discharged from the attachment in the form of a drinking fountain as suggested in Figure 1 when the faucet is open only to a relatively slight degree.

Pivotally supported to rotate about a horizontal axis l8 adjacent the junction of the chamber I5 andthe longitudinal opening through the tubular body M is a water deflector [9 which in normal position lies across the passage in the tubular body It so as to deflect water flowing from the discharge nozzle I! of the faucet l0 into tudinal slot 23 in their adjoining walls.

the chamber l6 and upwardly and outwardly through the passage 11. In order to sustain the deflector 19 in such position I attach to the deflector a weight 20 which is operable within the chamber l6 and is so balanced that when the pressure of the water is increased beyond a predetermined point the deflector l9 will be swung downwardly into the position illustrated in Figure 4, against the effort of the weight 20, and the weight will move upwardly as illustrated in Figure 4 to close the lower end of the passage ll. It will thus be seen that the weight 29 not only serves to maintain the deflector [9 in a position to deflect the water through the passage II when the water pressure is relatively low, but also serves as a valve to shut off the supply of water to the passage ll when the water pressure through the faucet is increased.

In the modification illustrated in Figure 5, a tubular body 2! is provided with a lateral extension .22 in the form of a tubular body the passages of which communicate through a longi- A plu 2 1 closes the bottom end of the tubular body 22 and formed in the top wall of the tubular body 22 is an outwardly and upwardly inclined passage 24' forming the water discharge passage of the device when it is in use as a drinking fountain. Pivotally'supported to swing about an axis 25 which lies perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the opening in the tubular body 2! is a water deflector 26 which under normal circumstances, closes the passage through the body 2! so as to defle t the water through the slot 23 into the in- 3 terior of the tubular body 22 and thence upwardly and outwardly through the water discharge opening 24.

Secured to the water deflector 26 adjacent the slot 23 is an arm 27 which extends through the slot 23 and operates within the interior of the tubular body 22. A valve 28 is attached to the free end of the arm 27 and is adapted when the water deflector 26 swings about its pivot 25 to move up- Wardly against the underside of the top wall of the tubular body 22 to close the passage 24'. 'It will be understood that the pivot point 25 is slight- 1y offset with relation to the longitudinal axis of the tubular body 22 so that the pressure of water thereon when increased beyond a predetermined point will cause the deflector 26 to swing about the pivot 25 into the position illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 5.

In the modification illustrated in Figures 6 through 8 inclusive, the fountain attachment designated generally 29 comprises a tubular body 30 having a lateral extension 3| which is formed with a chamber 32 which communicates through a slot 33 with the interior of the tubular body 33. The upper end of the chamber 32 is closed by a wall 34 having an upwardly and outwardly inclined passage 35, and pivoted at 36 to the upper side of the wall 34 is a flap valve 31 which under normal circumstances, lies across the upper end of the passage 35 eflectively to close the same. The lower end of the chamber 34 is closed by a screw plug 38, and mounted for vertical sliding movement within the chamber 32 is a weight 39. Pivotally supported at 43 in the slot 33 is a water deflector 4| carrying a lever arm 42 which extends into the chamber 32 and operates in a V-shaped groove 43 formed in the weight 39 so that when the weight is in its lowermost position and resting against the upper face of the plug 38, the water deflector 4| will be held in its elevated position to cause water flowing into its upper end to be deflected through the slot 33'and then into the chamber 32 from whence it will flow upwardly through the passage 35 with sufiicient force to open the flap valve 31 as suggested in Figure 6. As the water pressure is increased against the upper side of the water deflector 4| it will be evident that the deflector will swing about its pivot 40 so as to elevate the weight 39 and close the lower end of the passage 35 While the water deflector itself will permit the water to flow directly through the tubular body.

In use it will be understood that the fountain attachment is secured to the discharge nozzle l2 of the faucet as suggested in Figures 1 and 6, and when the handle I of the faucet Ill is turned to open the valve therein to only a slight degree, the water flowing through the nozzle I2 will be directed upwardly as suggested in Figures 1 and 6 to provide a drinking fountain. Should the pressure of the water be increased sufliciently to overcome the resistance of the deflectors and their attendant mechanism to movement, it will be evident that the deflectors will move into the dotted line positions illustrated in the various figures of the drawings so that the water may flow straight downwardly through the tubular bodies of the fountains illustrated herein.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim as my invention:

1. An attachment for a faucet comprising a body having a bore and a chamber opening into said bore, said body also having a discharge passage communicating with the chamber, a water deflector operable by the flow of water through said bore, a weight operatively connected with the deflector and housed in and movable in the chamber urging the deflector into bore opposing position, said deflector being responsive at a predetermined flow of water through said bore to actuate said weight to a passage closing position, said weight having a sliding flt in said chamber.

2. An attachment for a faucet comprising a body having a bore and a chamber opening into said bore, said body also having a discharge passage communicating with the chamber, a water deflector operable by the flow of water through said bore, a Weight operatively connected with the deflector and housed in and movable in the chamber urging the deflector into bore opposing position, said deflector being responsive at a predetermined flow of water through said bore to actuate said Weight to a passage closing position, said deflector being pivoted to swing about an axis adjacent the junction of said chamber and said bore, said weight moving with an oscillatory motion in said chamber and in sliding engagement therewith for closing said passage at the junction of said passage and said chamber.

3. An attachment for a faucet comprising a body having a bore and a chamber opening into said bore, said body also having a discharge passage communicating with the chamber, a water deflector operable by the flow of water through said bore, a Weight operatively connected with the deflector and housed in and movable in the chamber urging the deflector into bore opposing position, said deflector being responsive at a predetermined flow of Water through said bore to actuate said weight to a passage closing position,

said deflector being pivoted to swing about an axis through said bore, said weight moving free in said chamber with an oscillatory motion to close said passage.

4. An attachment for a faucet comprising a body having a bore and a chamber opening into said bore, said body also having a discharge passage communicating with the chamber, a water deflector operable by the flow of water through said bore, a weight operatively connected with the deflector and housed in and movable in the chamber urging the deflector into bore opposing position, said deflector being responsive at a predetermined flow of water through said bore to actuate said weight to a passage closing position, said weight moving in said chamber with a reciprocating motion to close said chamber from said bore and said passage.

JOSEPH P. BRUNET'I'I.

I REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,387,718 Hollaender Aug. 16, 1921 2,171,471 Brunetti Aug. 29, 1939 2,392,512 Thompson Jan. 8, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 274,528 Germany May 23, 1914 

